Waldemar Januszczak argues that the little known 17th-century portrait painter William Dobson was the first English painter of genius. Dobson's life and times are embedded in one of the most turbulent and significant epochs of British history - the English Civil War. As official court painter to Charles I, Dobson had a ringside seat to an period of intense drama and conflict.

In this Series Alison Steadman celebrates the natural beauty of some of the 6,000 islands that surround mainland Britain. Inspired by memories of a childhood holiday on the Isle of Man, Alison sets out meet some of the people who live on the UK's 267 inhabited islands.